Free Republic

ACLU Backs Sen. Larry Craig Senator Accused of Soliciting Sex Has an Unlikely Ally in American Civil Liberties Union Sept. 17, 2007 — The strange case of Idaho Republican Sen. Larry Craig is about to take another interesting turn. Craig is getting support today from what many might consider to be an unlikely ally  the American Civil Liberties Union. Craig was arrested in a men's restroom at the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport in June and pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct last month. "We believe the sting operation used to apprehend Mr. Craig was unconstitutional. The statute the government is relying...

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances. – First Amendment, U.S. Constitution As demonstrated in the first entry in our Bill of Rights, Americans are a religious people with a history steeped in faith. The first act of the Continental Congress called for prayer. President Lincoln enacted a day of prayer and fasting, and President Truman created an annual National Day of...

The American Civil Liberties Union has launched a drive to persuade education officials in 18 states to reject federal government-affiliated abstinence-only programs. The ACLU, citing data from a December 2004 report by Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., claims the programs discriminate against homosexuals, contain too much religious connotation and spread false information, the Washington Times reported.

It's tough to be a parent. In fact, raising your child these days to develop into a healthy, happy, responsible adult has never been harder. Violence and sex saturates television and movies, popular music is filled with profanity and rage – even video games often focus on the darkest edges of human behavior. It is bad enough that the culture seems at war with parents. But more disturbing are the actions of courts to damage the link between parent and child. And no group has done more to inflict damage on parental rights though the courts than the American Civil...

An Ohio pro-family activist warns that the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is disseminating information in an effort that is creating confrontational pro-homosexual student activists. A website for the organization's Lesbian and Gay Rights Project offers students a "Know Your Rights" card and refers to laws that purportedly protect homosexual behavior. But Linda Harvey, head of the conservative group Mission America, contends that the information the ACLU's homosexual rights advocates are providing through the site is somewhat distorted. "They say, for instance, that you have a federal constitutional right to express your sexual orientation," she notes. "I don't think that...

"No man who hates dogs and children," W.C. Fields liked to say, "can be all bad." The biggest difference between Mr. Fields and the American Civil Liberties Union is that the ACLU still likes dogs. In case after case, in courtrooms all over the country, the ACLU continues to affirm its abiding hatred for the American family – for traditional moral values, for the sanctity of marriage and for life itself. But perhaps, most alarmingly, for innocent children – especially children raised with a strong faith. It is not just that the organization has taken leave of its moral conscience....

LOS ANGELES The Los Angeles sheriff's department is investigating claims by the American Civil Liberties Union that gay inmates have been mistreated at a county jail. The A-C-L-U claims about 20 gay inmates were forced to remove their clothes in a busy hallway July 19th at the Men's Central Jail while being called names and taunted with vulgar sexual language by some deputies. The A-C-L-U wants anti-discrimination training for all deputies. Sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore said jail supervisors launched an investigation two weeks ago. He said the department's Equity Oversight Panel, which investigates discrimination allegations against sheriff's employees, is also...

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is suing school districts in California and Kentucky in an attempt to force them to conduct mandatory homosexual appreciation sessions for students and staff. In south Los Angeles, the ACLU of Southern California, along with the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR), reached a settlement requiring mandatory attitudinal training at Washington Preparatory High School. “The training is a model for the state,” said Christine Sun, staff attorney for the ACLU of Southern California, in a press release. The sessions, according to the NCLR release, include: “mandatory day-long faculty training on diversity, discrimination and harassment,...

In August, 2003, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a lawsuit against the state of Kansas over the state's criminal sodomy law involving children. The ACLU is defending Matthew Limon, a homosexual who committed sodomy against a 14-year-old boy in 2000. At the time of his crime, Simon was 18 years old. The ACLU is claiming that Limon's conviction is unconstitutionally discriminatory because the penalties for sodomy with a minor are different than for heterosexual sex with a minor. Kansas Attorney General Phill KIine says the fairness of Limon's sentence should be a state legislative issue, not a constitutional...

ACLU Releases Fourth Edition of The Rights of Lesbians, Gay Men, Bisexuals, and Transgender People March 10, 2004 New Book Provides Up-to-Date Information on the Rights of LGBT People in Marriage, Parenting, the Military and Schools FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE NEW YORK – The American Civil Liberties Union announced today that it has updated its comprehensive book on gay rights, The Rights of Lesbians, Gay Men, Bisexuals, and Transgender People (Southern Illinois University Press, February 2004). The new edition, which is available at www.aclu.org/store and in bookstores around the country, contains updated information on recent groundbreaking cases including the Supreme...

The aggressive efforts of the ACLU and Gay Lesbian Straight Education Network (GLSEN) to “normalize” homosexuality at middle schools and high schools across the country produce college students who are confused about their gender identity. On January 6, 2004, the ACLU achieved a $1.1 million settlement in a lawsuit against the Morgan Hill, California, school district for allegedly failing to protect six homosexual students from harassment in 1998. The ACLU’s victory also requires all employees of the public school system, including custodians, school safety officers and bus drivers, to enroll in a pro-homosexual sensitivity training program. According to a report...

Curley v. NAMBLA. The ACLU of Massachusetts is representing the North American Man Boy Love Association (NAMBLA) in a civil lawsuit brought in U.S. District Court seeking damages from the organization based on information which it had published. The suit, an action for wrongful death and for civil rights violations, alleges that NAMBLA is responsible for the kidnaping, rape and murder of a 10 year old boy because its publications and the material which appeared on its Internet site allegedly “urged the general public to illegally rape male children.” The plaintiffs claim that one of the convicted murderers had become ...

An old friend of mine once said this about the American Civil Liberties Union: "They're a bunch of whale-saving, criminal-loving pinkos — and thank God for them." This remark nicely summarizes the ambivalence with which many people regard the ACLU. Few organizations dance closer to the very edge of the loony-Left precipice than it does. There seems to be no thug too hardened nor any cause too exotic for the ACLU to champion. At the same time, if America ever were unlucky enough to face a president who decided to remain in the Oval Office past her expiration date, the...

ACLU to monitor Boyd's compliance By MIKE JAMES - The Independent http://www.dailyindependent.com/articles/2004/08/04/news/02aclu4.txt SUMMIT (Kentucky) - The American Civil Liberties Union will monitor compliance with anti-harassment training requirements at Boyd County middle and high schools, a spokeswoman said Tuesday. The organization will want to know whether all the students at the two schools are getting the training, which is mandatory under the terms of a court order settling a lawsuit against the district by a gay-rights club at Boyd County High School, said Chris Hampton, spokeswoman for the ACLU's Lesbian and Gay Rights Project. Some parents have said they will take...

ACLU Explains Strategy On Getting Courts to Rule In Favor of Gay Marriage A Strategic Approach to Marriage By Matthew A. Coles Director, ACLU Lesbian & Gay Rights Project A lot of people don’t understand why the ACLU and other groups working on equality for LGBT people haven’t just gone into court everywhere to get same-sex couples the ability to marry. But there are good reasons not to do that. 1. If we just sue in as many states as possible, we are likely to lose a lot of the cases. To get the courts to strike down a law,...

A group of Maryland lawmakers yesterday said they will file an appeal to oppose an American Civil Liberties Union lawsuit that aims to force Baltimore and four counties to accept same-sex "marriages." "We have asked to be permitted to intervene so that we might be able to put out a serious and truthful defense of Maryland's marriage statute," said Delegate Donald H. Dwyer Jr., Anne Arundel County Republican. The lawmakers — seven Republicans and one Democrat — were rebuffed last month by Baltimore Circuit Court Judge M. Brooke Murdoch, who ruled that the lawmakers could not join the defendants in...

Sunday, November 28, 2004 LAW OF THE LANDView homosexual film,or school faces lawsuitACLU tells district: Force studentsto watch 'tolerance training' video Posted: November 28, 20041:00 a.m. Eastern © 2004 WorldNetDaily.com If administrators of Kentucky's Boyd County school district can't find a way to force all students to attend sexual orientation and gender identity "tolerance training," the American Civil Liberties Union is threatening to take them to court – again. Ten months ago, the district settled a lawsuit with the ACLU over the right of a student group, the Gay-Straight Alliance, to meet on campus. The year-long litigation strained relations in the conservative...

If administrators of Kentucky's Boyd County school district can't find a way to force all students to attend sexual orientation and gender identity "tolerance training," the American Civil Liberties Union is threatening to take them to court – again. Ten months ago, the district settled a lawsuit with the ACLU over the right of a student group, the Gay-Straight Alliance, to meet on campus. The year-long litigation strained relations in the conservative northeast portion of the state. In addition to allowing the group to meet on campus after school, district officials agreed that all students, staff and teachers would be...

Civil liberties and homosexual rights advocates have renewed their push for community programs to bolster support in schools for homosexual youths, just weeks after voters repudiated same-sex unions in 11 state referendums.     But in northeastern Kentucky, parents and students have defied the Ashland-Boyd County school district's "mandatory anti-harassment workshops," part of an agreement with the American Civil Liberties Union to allow the Gay-Straight Alliances student group to meet in school buildings. Hundreds of students opted out of the tolerance training video, and another 324 students did not show up for school the day it was shown. The ACLU has...

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - An Arkansas judge Wednesday declared unconstitutional a state ban on placing foster children in any household with a gay member. Ruling in a case brought by the Arkansas chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union (news - web sites), Pulaski County Circuit Judge Timothy Fox said the state Child Welfare Agency Review board had overstepped its authority by trying to regulate "public morality." At issue was a 1999 board regulation that said gays cannot become foster parents, and foster children cannot be placed in any home with a gay member under its roof. The ACLU had...

(Missoula, MT) - In a lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union, the Montana Supreme Court has ruled that the state must provide lesbian and gay employees of the University of Montana System with the option of purchasing health insurance and other employee benefits for their domestic partners. "This is an incredible victory for the lesbian and gay employees of the University of Montana System who need to protect their families just like their straight colleagues do," said Scott Crichton, Executive Director of the ACLU of Montana. "The court has said that same-sex couples who form committed relationships can...

NUMBER 228THE NEWSPAPER OF EDUCATION RIGHTSJANUARY 2005 Gay Agenda in Schools Riles Parents On the heels of lopsided votes against same-sex marriage in 11 state referenda last November, parents and students are becoming more vocal in resisting school programs aimed at support for the homosexual lifestyle. In northeastern Kentucky, hundreds of students have defied the Ashland-Boyd County school district's "mandatory anti-harassment workshops" required by an agreement with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) that also allows the Gay-Straight Alliance student group to meet in school buildings. Some 324 students did not come to school the day the tolerance training video...

A controversial amendment to the Illinois Human Rights Act, extending anti-discrimination protection on the basis of sexual orientation, was pushed vigorously in the legislature by the state chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union. The law, signed by Gov. Rod Blagojevich last week, allows no exemptions for people or institutions with religious convictions against sodomy, cross-dressing, adultery, sex changes, pornography, incest, group sex or even bestiality. Some are suggesting the amendment is setting up a clash with the First Amendment protections of religious freedom. The legislation, which had been stalled in the General Assembly for many years, was the focus...

ACLU Urges Washington Supreme Court To Uphold Marriage Equality March 8, 2005 OLYMPIA, WA -- In a case filed on behalf of 11 couples across the state who wish to marry in Washington or to now have their marriage recognized under Washington law (Castle v. State), the American Civil Liberties Union appeared before the Washington Supreme Court today to urge the court to uphold marriage equality for same-sex couples. Plaintiffs include a police officer, a firefighter, a banker, a nurse, a retired judge, a college professor, a business executive, and others. They reside in communities from Seattle to Spokane and...

The proposed state constitutional ban on gay marriage that supporters say will keep the issue out of the hands of a judge is likely headed for a courtroom anyway. Critics say they will sue to stop plans to amend the Tennessee Constitution, a day after the state House overwhelmingly approved the issue with the idea of putting it in the hands of voters in 2006. The ACLU of Tennessee says it will pursue litigation to stop the gay marriage ban. Right now, bans in Georgia, Kentucky and Nebraska are being challenged in court. But so far no court has overturned...

WASHINGTON - How should you talk to your children about sex? Tell them no sex, says a new government Web site that proclaims "abstinence is the healthiest choice." That's dictating values, say organizations including the American Civil Liberties Union and gay rights groups, and they want the site taken down. Michael Leavitt, secretary of the Health and Human Services Department, says the Web site is right on target. The site was designed for parents who are embarrassed about talking with their children about sex, Leavitt said. "Parents have a tremendous amount of influence on their children and we want them...